The sun is out again today and I am feeling energized. There is still a buzz going on around town since OSU won the National Championship. I was out and about yesterday wearing my OSU gloves and made people smile. Yes, it is nice to be happy about the OSU win and it is good news in lieu of all the bad things going on in the world today.
Continuing my rant about stress and the what it can do to your body, I will talk about hormones and imbalances. I often wondered why some women made it through menopause without many symptoms. Maybe they had a stress free life and cortisol had not become dominate in their bodies. I have discovered that every time the body needs to make cortisol due to stress it uses progesterone to produce cortisol.
Progesterone is produced in the ovaries and other organs in the body. Men produce progesterone also. When we are stressed the progesterone being produced in our bodies is used to produce the cortisol. After prolonged periods of stress the progesterone is depleted. As women age progesterone and estrogen in the ovaries declines. If you mess up the other parts of the body producing these hormones the whole HTP axis gets screwed up. Your body lets you know that something is wrong by producing warning signals. These signals could be hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, panic attacks, cognitive issues, viruses, personality changes, restless leg syndrome, intolerances to cold and heat, sleep disturbances, and many more things.
When I found out that cortisol from stress had zapped my progesterone, I started understanding a life time of difficulties that I had experienced. I had problems from lack of progesterone starting in my childhood. My stressful childhood had upset that balance of hormones. Those hormones are essential to keep the body in perfect functioning. It is sad for me to think of all the medical problems I had as a child. They ranged from painful menstrual cycles to very irregular ones and severe acne. I always had a racing heartbeat and restless leg syndrome. It possibly explains some of my mother's medical problems. That progesterone also helps the body get rid of excess estrogen. Sometimes you will see women become estrogen dominant as they age. Since there are so many underlying problems such as cyst of the ovaries, tumors of the pituitary glands, and problems owing the thyroid and adrenal glands, it's is important to find a doctor who is well trained in the whole HTP axis.
I know over my life span I have complained to my doctors that I felt bad and depressed at times. I also would go for stretches at a time with no menstrual periods. They looked at me in a perplexed way and suggested Advil for pain, told me it was normal to have female problems. I was even told at one time that my uterus looked fine and I should just exercise more. It is a wonder that I was able to become pregnant twice. Yes, I have two wonderful children and I hope that what I have found out will help them to live a happy and healthy life.
I remind you if you read my blog that I would not recommend just taking supplements without the direction of a doctor. If you are having similar symptoms search for a doctor that can help find out what the underlying cause is. I found a doctor that understood that whole HTP axis. There are medical doctors that are studying and specializing in hormonal balance. They call their practice Integrative Medicine or Functional Medicine. These doctors incorporate natural supplements and biodentical hormones to get your body balanced. They have studied the use of natural supplements, Chinese herbs, acupuncture and many other natural ways to heal the body. They have medical degrees and are board Certified doctors. I have found that they will take the time to listen to your medical issues and based on what you tell them, they can recommend proper testing.
Some people are happy just treating symptoms with a pill and that is their choice. I am a person that wants to know why I am having the symptoms. I guess for me I learned about ownership of my own body and how I can take care of myself. It starts with a healthy body. When the bodies HTP axis is balanced the mind body relationship is balanced.
My husband has learned that even though chemotherapy put him in remission, that you need to make sure that there are no deficiencies in the body. Chemotherapy is toxic and kills good cells and bad cells. It can deplete essential vitamins in the body and throw off the HTP axis. After a couple of years of research and talking with other Cancer survivors we know that other survivors have had problems with cognitive issues and personality changes. I have spoke to some of these survivors that were refereed to doctors that helped them with what is called a survivor ship plan. Keeping healthy is a life long commitment.
It has been a long road to this healthier point in our life. We started with small goals and kept eating a healthy diet, but it has taken some help from what I call the experts and adding some supplements. That is doctors dedicated to helping us achieve that healthy mind and body. I am sad that it took so long for me to get to this point of feeling good, but I am also very happy that I am now living a healthy, happy life. I am also happy that my husband has taken ownership of his own body also and has put for effort to be healthy too.
Well there is a lot more I can say about how I slowly changed my life so the blog is now devoted to talking about making changes. It did start with changing my thoughts and it has changed my life. It has changed Laney too, as a healthy lifestyle keeps your pet healthy also.
My motto for this year is commit to taking ownership of your body and you can be happy and healthy.
Life is beautiful !!
Elizabeth:)
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
An Emergency Has Changed My Life
Way to go OSU !! We went to bed last night smiling and High St. was exploding with celebrations, as Ohio State had beat Oregon for the National Championship. My husband was so excited that he was shouting with excitement every time there was a touchdown and Laney was going crazy running in circles and barking. She didn't know what was going on and it was quite comical as her OSU sweater came off and was dragging behind her. Wow, there are some happy buckeye fans today. The sun even came out today.
I have been out running errands and enjoying lunch with friends. We have to take advantage of beautiful sunny days here in the north. I said I was going to talk about stress and being with my friends on a regular basis is the best thing for stress. I think back now and realize that my friends have been excellent therapy. They make you laugh, they let you cry if you need too, and they help you see situations differently. God Bless my friends.
I can now talk about stress and what it does to people. A little over a year ago just hearing the word stress made me sick. Yes stress will make you sick and can even kill you. We all have stress in our life, but when it becomes overwhelming due to a life event it can make you ill. It can change your personality, cause cognitive problems, and mess up the hypothalamus- pituitary- thyroid axis. You throw off one thing in the body such as depleting an important mineral or vitamin and it can wreck havoc with your whole mind body relationship.
So the first thing that I want to tell people is that stress will cause belly fat and if you have a muffin top, you may have an overload of stress. When I finally got to the point that I felt so bad last fall, I looked in the mirror and there was a ring of fat around my abdomen. I thought to myself that if I could have jumped in the water I would have floated. I surely wasn't going to sink and I wasn't eating
any more than usual. I had always been petite and now I felt like someone had inflated a ring around my middle, but I couldn't find a plug to pull. When I went to some health care professionals who practice Integrated medicine, the first thing out of my mouth was please help me my body has turned on me. I had even been exercising and eating healthy. I was more concerned about the belly fat than anything, because I knew it was bad and a sign of high stress. And, of course a 48 hour urine test confirmed that my cortisol level was off the chart. STRESS!!!
When our body is under constant stress the adrenal glands sitting on the kidneys keep pumping out cortisol. Our body is made to react to stress for those threatening moments in life. It gives us energy to get through situations. But, if you are in a constant state of stress and you are not releasing the energy your cortisol tells the body to store fat around the middle. Cortisol also keeps us awake and that explained the sleep deprivation I had experienced on and off since childhood. Your cortisol rises normally while we sleep and upon awaking is high, but declines as the day goes on so we can sleep at night. My cortisol level was high 24hrs a day and higher than normal. This was a bad indication that if I didn't get the level under control, I was going to burn out the adrenal glands. I was very sleep deprived and felt exhausted.
Sleep deprivation is not good, because sleeping helps us heal and refuel our bodies. A lack of sleep leads to heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and cognitive problems and a host of many other health problems. It throws the whole body out of sync.
It was also haunting my husband. We had come through three years of stress fighting Cancer and now we are fighting off stress. Just knowing you have Cancer causes cortisol levels to rise and if you add chemotherapy and shock the body with drugs, you are almost certain to screw up that hormonal balance in the body. As for me, just the shock of knowing my husband had cancer and was not himself after the chemotherapy caused a big imbalance in me. What a mess we both were.
Thank goodness we are both doing better. I was given supplements prescribed by a doctor and I am getting my cortisol under control and slowly but surely the belly fat is deflating. Together my husband and I are learning how to control cortisol with the right food balances and we have started doing Yoga to help with stress. The Yoga is one of our goals this year to help us relax and tone up.
Goodbye belly fat. I am not going to let you take possession of me any more. It sometimes takes hitting rock bottom to make us find help and get that ownership of our body that I talked about.
My rock bottom decent started in 2011 and climaxed November 2013. I had one of the worst panic attacks of my life as I left the doctors office at MD Anderson. We did not deserve to be treated with insults and intimidated as we were. We were very vulnerable and tired. I was the emergency that sent us home. I never want to feel that bad again. It was what sent me out to search for help. My cortisol was pumping and the adrenaline was making me sick. My therapist had a lot to do with pointing me in the right direction. I have learned a lot about myself and my body. It is ashamed that it took me until August of 2014 to fall literally and stand up and say I need someone that understands the effects of stress on the body. My prayers were answered and now everyday I know what it is like to feel good. I still have a long ways to go to, but I am amazed at how good I feel.
I still have a lot I can say about what stress does to you. Don't let any one tell you it does not cause illness, because it can wreck your whole body chemistry. It can cause personality changes. If anyone makes you feel afraid or harms you run away and don't look back. You will release your adrenaline and perhaps avoid all the stress my husband and I have had. If you have belly fat take it seriously. You can get healthy.
I will talk later about what else happens to the body when your cortisol levels stay high. I need to get to sleep and let my body rest. Goodnight world.
Life is beautiful !!!
Elizabeth:)
I have been out running errands and enjoying lunch with friends. We have to take advantage of beautiful sunny days here in the north. I said I was going to talk about stress and being with my friends on a regular basis is the best thing for stress. I think back now and realize that my friends have been excellent therapy. They make you laugh, they let you cry if you need too, and they help you see situations differently. God Bless my friends.
I can now talk about stress and what it does to people. A little over a year ago just hearing the word stress made me sick. Yes stress will make you sick and can even kill you. We all have stress in our life, but when it becomes overwhelming due to a life event it can make you ill. It can change your personality, cause cognitive problems, and mess up the hypothalamus- pituitary- thyroid axis. You throw off one thing in the body such as depleting an important mineral or vitamin and it can wreck havoc with your whole mind body relationship.
So the first thing that I want to tell people is that stress will cause belly fat and if you have a muffin top, you may have an overload of stress. When I finally got to the point that I felt so bad last fall, I looked in the mirror and there was a ring of fat around my abdomen. I thought to myself that if I could have jumped in the water I would have floated. I surely wasn't going to sink and I wasn't eating
any more than usual. I had always been petite and now I felt like someone had inflated a ring around my middle, but I couldn't find a plug to pull. When I went to some health care professionals who practice Integrated medicine, the first thing out of my mouth was please help me my body has turned on me. I had even been exercising and eating healthy. I was more concerned about the belly fat than anything, because I knew it was bad and a sign of high stress. And, of course a 48 hour urine test confirmed that my cortisol level was off the chart. STRESS!!!
When our body is under constant stress the adrenal glands sitting on the kidneys keep pumping out cortisol. Our body is made to react to stress for those threatening moments in life. It gives us energy to get through situations. But, if you are in a constant state of stress and you are not releasing the energy your cortisol tells the body to store fat around the middle. Cortisol also keeps us awake and that explained the sleep deprivation I had experienced on and off since childhood. Your cortisol rises normally while we sleep and upon awaking is high, but declines as the day goes on so we can sleep at night. My cortisol level was high 24hrs a day and higher than normal. This was a bad indication that if I didn't get the level under control, I was going to burn out the adrenal glands. I was very sleep deprived and felt exhausted.
Sleep deprivation is not good, because sleeping helps us heal and refuel our bodies. A lack of sleep leads to heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and cognitive problems and a host of many other health problems. It throws the whole body out of sync.
It was also haunting my husband. We had come through three years of stress fighting Cancer and now we are fighting off stress. Just knowing you have Cancer causes cortisol levels to rise and if you add chemotherapy and shock the body with drugs, you are almost certain to screw up that hormonal balance in the body. As for me, just the shock of knowing my husband had cancer and was not himself after the chemotherapy caused a big imbalance in me. What a mess we both were.
Thank goodness we are both doing better. I was given supplements prescribed by a doctor and I am getting my cortisol under control and slowly but surely the belly fat is deflating. Together my husband and I are learning how to control cortisol with the right food balances and we have started doing Yoga to help with stress. The Yoga is one of our goals this year to help us relax and tone up.
Goodbye belly fat. I am not going to let you take possession of me any more. It sometimes takes hitting rock bottom to make us find help and get that ownership of our body that I talked about.
My rock bottom decent started in 2011 and climaxed November 2013. I had one of the worst panic attacks of my life as I left the doctors office at MD Anderson. We did not deserve to be treated with insults and intimidated as we were. We were very vulnerable and tired. I was the emergency that sent us home. I never want to feel that bad again. It was what sent me out to search for help. My cortisol was pumping and the adrenaline was making me sick. My therapist had a lot to do with pointing me in the right direction. I have learned a lot about myself and my body. It is ashamed that it took me until August of 2014 to fall literally and stand up and say I need someone that understands the effects of stress on the body. My prayers were answered and now everyday I know what it is like to feel good. I still have a long ways to go to, but I am amazed at how good I feel.
I still have a lot I can say about what stress does to you. Don't let any one tell you it does not cause illness, because it can wreck your whole body chemistry. It can cause personality changes. If anyone makes you feel afraid or harms you run away and don't look back. You will release your adrenaline and perhaps avoid all the stress my husband and I have had. If you have belly fat take it seriously. You can get healthy.
I will talk later about what else happens to the body when your cortisol levels stay high. I need to get to sleep and let my body rest. Goodnight world.
Life is beautiful !!!
Elizabeth:)
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